Middle School

There is another way

Too many of today’s middle school students feel unsafe and unsupported to do their best and be their best. In the face of persistent achievement gaps, legislators and decision-makers are pinning their hopes on the results from standardized tests as the single indicator for measuring how well our students are doing. And “zero tolerance” policies and punishments remain the preferred quick fix for dealing with unwanted student behaviors. But there is another way.

What are ESR’s middle school reform initiatives and prevention programs?

Since the early 1980s, Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR) has been a voice for positive change in America’s education system – a voice that says we must create safe, caring, respectful, and disciplined learning environments if we are to help all young people succeed and become active, contributing members of our communities. Today, ESR is a leading educational solutions provider helping to create middle schools where young people want to be and teachers want to teach.

ESR supports teachers, principals, and leadership teams in the essential work of helping students develop the intellectual, social, and self-management skills to make a successful transition to high school, continue their education, and become lifelong learners and responsible citizens.

ESR can work with your school in two different ways:

1. Supporting middle school reform, continuous school improvement, and teaming initiatives
   Our work in the areas of school reform, school redesign, and continuous school improvement is called Partners in Learning. Partners in Learning provides consulting, training, follow-up support, coaching, and technical assistance to help schools implement school redesign initiatives and sustain changes that foster: a safer, more welcoming, and respectful school climate; a fair and seamless system of discipline and student support; more positive and caring relationships among students and staff; and a learning culture that expects and supports every student to be academically successful.
2. Implementing prevention, character education, and social and emotional learning programs
   This work involves discrete programs and initiatives that help students develop and strengthen social skills, emotional competencies and qualities of character that increase interpersonal effectiveness. These programs and initiatives also help to reduce intolerance, harassment and bullying, and risky and aggressive student behaviors.

We support teachers, counselors, principals, parents, and others in the essential work of:

• Helping students develop and strengthen social skills, emotional competencies, and qualities of character that increase interpersonal effectiveness and reduce aggressive and anti-social behavior, bullying and harassment, and intolerance

• Creating peaceable (safe, caring, and respectful) classroom environments

• Establishing a safer school and more positive peer culture

We know that middle schools face challenges in figuring out when, where, and how to address these goals in an already crowded curriculum and school program. We’ll help you figure out the best opportunities in your school setting.

ESR provides the practical know-how, training, coaching, and resources to help you implement changes that educators, students, and families will feel good about. We offer a wide range of programs, services and workshops, each tailored to your unique needs.

Four things distinguish ESR’s work with schools. We help teachers build peaceable classrooms that integrate academics with social development. Our widely acclaimed curricula are loaded with practical, time-tested lessons that help students develop the skills to cooperate and resolve conflicts productively. Our classroom management and teaching strategies foster self-discipline and problem solving. And we have a proud history of delivering professional development that is experiential and transformative.

ESR is committed to providing national leadership in forging a broader vision of education – one that calls for educating the heart as well as the mind.

To find out how ESR can help your school, district, after-school program, or early childhood center, contact us at 800-370-2515 ext. 19 or fill out the form below and we’ll show you how together we can make a difference.